Emulsified water contamination in fuel is a serious concern as it affects the performance and operation of engines. Emulsified water contamination can cause various problems including fuel filter plugging, fuel starvation, damage of engine components through cavitation and corrosion, and promotion of microbiological growth.
Various devices have been employed to reduce the amount of emulsified water contamination in fuel. By way of example, coalescing and separating devices have been employed to first cause the emulsified water to coalesce into larger droplets and then remove the enlarged droplets from the fuel stream.
Recently, efforts have been focused on reducing air pollution caused by the combustion of hydrocarbon fluids. Sulphur contributes directly to the pollution caused by the combustion of diesel fuels. Diesel fuels have been refined with reduced amounts of sulphur to meet the diesel engine emission control regulation. However, these low-sulphur diesel fuels have necessitated the use of other additives. By way of example, surfactants have been added to low-sulphur diesel fuels to maintain sufficient lubricity of the diesel fuel for the engine.
Surfactants have also the effect of stabilizing emulsified water in fuel because they lower the interfacial tension between water and fuel. Lowering the interfacial tension between water and fuel makes it more difficult to coalesce the emulsified water into larger droplets. Therefore, surfactants make it more difficult to remove emulsified water from hydrocarbon fuels.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems, materials, and methods that can be used for removing water from hydrocarbon fluids, such as ultra low-sulphur diesel fuel.